Despite progress in recent years V4’s local circular economies are plagued by inefficient management of the biodegradable waste, legal or illegal landfills, threat of the incineration trap and approximative reporting.

The region hasn’t suffer from any massive cyberattack, but minor incidents are fairly common. All the V4 countries have their strategies, institutions and cooperate to tackle the most dangerous threats.

Hungary and Poland clearly support the idea of more reliance on intergovernmental solutions to common problems, Slovakia, due to its Eurozone membership, is more open to the idea of further deepening through European institutions. The Czech Republic seems to be caught in the middle, writes Robert Csehi.

China has used the international economic crisis to elbow its way towards a dominant position on the global market. Its New Silk Road is seen as an attempt to create a massive, multi-national zone of economic and political influence, including in Central Europe.